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Matthew W. Liberatore is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Toledo. He earned a B.S. degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, all in chemical engineering. His current research involves the rheology of complex fluids as well as active learning, reverse engineering online videos, and interactive textbooks.

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Amanda Malefyt is currently Chair and Associate Professor in the McKetta Department of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering at Trine University. She received her Ph.D from Michigan State University and bachelor’s degree from Trine (formerly Tri-State) University. Her research interests include engineering education and nucleic acid therapeutics.

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Charlene M. Czerniak is a professor at The University of Toledo in the department of Curriculum and Instruction. She received her Ph.D. in science education from The Ohio State University. A former elementary teacher in Bowling Green, OH, she teaches classes in grant writing, elementary science education, and science teacher leadership. Professor Czerniak has authored and co-authored over 50 articles. Her publications have appeared in the Journal of Science Teacher Education, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, School Science and Mathematics, Science Scope, and Science and Children. Professor Czerniak is co-author of a textbook published by Routledge on project based science teaching. She also has five chapters in books and illustrated 12 children’s science education books. Most recently, Czerniak authored a chapter entitled Interdisciplinary Science Teaching in the Handbook of Research on Science Education, published by Lawrence Erlbaum and Associates. Professor Czerniak has been an author and director of numerous grant funded projects in excess of $30 million dollars that targeted professional development of science teachers.She has made frequent presentations at national and regional conferences that focus on her research interests on teachers’ beliefs about teaching science, professional development for elementary and middle grades teachers, science education reform, and school improvement. She is an active member in the Association for Science Teacher Education (ASTE), the National Association of Research in Science Teaching (NARST), the School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA), and the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) and reviews manuscripts for the journals associated with these organizations. For five years, she served as editor of the Journal of Science Teacher Education, the professional journal of the Association for Science Teacher Education. She has served on numerous committees for AETS, NARST, SSMA, and NSTA. Charlene Czerniak was the President of the School Science and Mathematics Association for two years, and she served as the President of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) from 2008-2009. She received the 2008 Distinguished Alumni Award for Service from The University of Toledo Judith Herb College of Education and the 2008 Research Award from the Judith Herb College of Education. In 2010, she received the George Mallinson Distinguished Service Award from the School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA), which is the highest award given by SSMA. In 2012, she was named Distinguished University Professor at The University of Toledo, which the highest award bestowed on faculty.

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Gale A. Mentzer, PhD, the owner and director of Acumen Research and Evaluation, LLC, has been a professional program evaluator since 1998. She holds a PhD in Educational Research and Measurement from The University of Toledo and a Master of Arts in English Literature and Language—a unique combination of specializations that melds quantitative and qualitative methodologies. She and has extensive experience in the evaluation of projects focused on STEM education including evaluations of several multi-million dollar federally funded projects. Previously she taught graduate level courses for the College of Education at The University of Toledo in Statistics, Testing and Grading, Research Design, and Program Evaluation.

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